Voices of Youth Inspire! " I should never lose the love for my people, my land, and my culture"

I was born in the indigenous Zapotec community called San Juan
Jaltepec from the Santiago Yaveo municipality of Oaxaca.

What are you currently doing for work?

Indigenous youth and childhood commission for the Indigenous
Women organization for CIARENA AC. We promote the articulation of
the indigenous youth network of Central America and Mexico; I am
part of the Alliance of Indigenous Women and currently the focal
point for the Global Caucus of Latin America for Indigenous
Youth.

I coordinate the School of Developers and Advocates Indigenous
Youth BEN' COBBY VI BANEZI “Mirna Cunningham.”

And how do you compare this with what you wanted to do when
you were 10 years old?

When I was 10 years old I accompanied my parents to their
meetings in various villages, and people from diverse communities
came to my house to look for help and advice. I had the
opportunity to listen to life stories, testimonies and life
experiences of people who belong to an indigenous community. I
could coexist with children my age even though we were all
indigenous, and we all had lived other contexts and realities.
All of these experiences are what have shaped me as a person.

In a nutshell, how did you get where you are now? Name some of
the most important milestones.

My family has played a fundamental role in my training. From
childhood they always told me that I had to feel proud coming
from an indigenous village and being Zapotecan. They told me that
I should never have to be quiet in the face of an injustice, that
I should never lose the love for my people, my land, and my
culture. The most important milestones in my life have been
marked by the distinct movements of indigenous villages, the
coexistence of a large trajectory of indigenous leaders, and
seeing and knowing the struggle for the criminalization rights
through the recognition of the indigenous people.

When I was very young, I was invited to be part of an
organization of Indigenous Women (Indigenous Women by Ciarena)
who to date have supported me in the work I do. Through the
organization, we have been involved with work with indigenous
children, women, and youth.

Thanks to the work that we implemented within the community we
have been able to promote other indigenous people networks at the
Latin American level so that we have coordinated a manner to
carry our voices to other spheres of influence.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to get your
current position and how did it help you grow as a person?

There remains problematic forms of discrimination and racism that
still exists in our societies which threatens the construction of
our identity. The stereotypes that society has in relation to
indigenous peoples are wrong. It is thought to that “young
indigenous” is synonymous to primitive or backwards but we have
the right to access the new, such as information technology for
example.

Centralizing spaces incidence and decision making remain
difficult to visualize our demand as indigenous peoples, which
are based on collective processes.

The lack of recognition of our individual and collective human
rights as indigenous peoples hinders the full enjoyment of our
rights as indigenous adolescents and women.

How important was your choice of degree/field of study at
university for what you're doing now?

In my study I was struck by the degree in Hydrobiology, which was
already important for me to be able to support indigenous
communities who have established themselves next to river banks
and oceans. I thought that it was necessary to be able to help
these towns where the water also is privatizing. However, the
fact that one has had the opportunity to acquire tools in the
denominated “formal education,” does not mean that such knowledge
is above the traditional and ancestral knowledge of our people.
The knowledge acquired in school can serve as a tool that can be
combined with the traditional knowledge, provided they are for
your benefit and not for harm.

What are the top three things someone needs to excel in your
field?

Self-identify as part of indigenous people

To know that you form part of the collective process and that you
are only the “spokesman” and not the leader

Never lose vision nor the compromise and respect for the
indigenous peoples

What do you think is the MOST important thing governments
and/or companies can do to help adolescents and especially young
women in indigenous communities?

Acting in accordance with the provisions of international
conventions and treaties on the rights of indigenous people such
as the ILO Convention 169 and the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of the indigenous peoples.

Respect the right of the consultation of indigenous peoples as
well as the Free Consent Principle, Free and Informed.

Generate full and effective participation spaces for indigenous
women and youth public policies and programs, and the monitoring,
implementation and execution of the same.

Abandon implementing development models that violate our
traditional organizational form that we have as a people. These
models have forced displacement of peoples, mostly the indigenous
youth.

Stop the various forms of violence committed against indigenous
peoples such as militarization, genocide, ecocide, among others.

Tell us about the strangest day you've ever had at work or the
strangest thing you had to do?

One day when I was told that my mother had been the victim of an
attack by my younger brother.

Some words to youth out there: What advice can you give
adolescents in Latin America and the world?

We must not lose hope. We have to be young with memories and
stories. We must not be quiet in the face of an injustice. We
return that value of the “Word” the word, the word that our
people have a meaning and that many already have forgotten. It is
worth crying or being sad, angry, or screaming in Latin America
because we transform these sentiments into energy to keep working
collectively to continue transforming this world. We turn to see
the other side and raise our heads up. We respect our indigenous
people, worthy representatives of ancient cultures and
millennials.

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Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. Today, VOY is a vibrant community of youth bloggers from all over the world, offering inspiring, original insight and opinion on a variety of topics. Everyone is welcome to write, film, comment and engage in discussions. Let’s go!